Love Potion
by liveonpurpose
Summary: Lewis kept just a little bit of the ambergris, and Cleo accidentally gets lovestruck. This is just a silly one, mostly Clewis.
1. For science

Lewis regretfully turned the bottle upside down, watching the clear liquid flow into the sea below him. At the last second, he turned the bottle upward and screwed the lid back on. He could feel a bit of the perfume still sloshing inside the bottle, but he made his face look regretful.

"There. All gone." He stated, his face a solid blank.

Zane screwed his face into a disappointed expression before he stalked away.

Lewis held the glass bottle up to his face, looking at the bit of ambergris that still lay in the bottle.

"Lewis?"

Lewis wrenched his eyes away from the bottle and managed to focus on Charlotte, who had clearly been trying to get his attention for a few seconds.

"Uh, yes?" He tried to pretend like he'd heard every word.

Charlotte was staring at him as if he were stupid. "I've just asked if you want to see a film this evening?" She repeated slowly, looking at him closely.

"Oh, yes. That sounds great." Lewis gave Charlotte a brief smile before turning his attention back to the bottle he held in his hand.

"Are you holding onto that?" Charlotte reached for the bottle.

"No." Lewis said quickly, holding the bottle behind his back. "I just need to dispose of it properly. Recycle it, you know?"

"That's why I'm crazy about you." Charlotte wrapped her arms around Lewis's waist. "You're so concerned about the earth."

"Erm, yeah, you know it." Lewis awkwardly slid out of Charlotte's grasp.

"Is everything alright?" Charlotte's eagle eyes looked Lewis up and down.

"Of course!" Lewis smiled, falsely. He liked Charlotte, really he did, but it seemed like she kept him under constant supervision. She questioned him closely whenever they spent the slightest bit of time apart, and she never seemed to believe him when he told her that he was glad that she was his girlfriend.

Charlotte left shortly after that, headed on her way with an unconvinced air that plainly said that she knew Lewis wasn't being completely honest. She felt like that frequently, like Lewis wasn't telling her everything. But she liked Lewis enough to overlook his oddities.

Lewis hurried back home with his bottle hidden under his shirt. He was anxious to run some tests on the ambergris left in the bottle.

He arrived home in a matter of minutes. He hustled inside and pulled out his most powerful microscope and a petri dish.

Lewis removed the bottle of ambergris from where he'd ended up hiding it inside his back pocket and examined it carefully. It didn't look like anything special, just an antique bottle with clear liquid inside it. Clear liquid, he reminded himself, that would make Cleo melt at his feet.

Lewis shook his head, looking at his feet. He was not going to use this stuff on Cleo. He wasn't. Though...

Purely out of temptation, Lewis gave the bottle just one squirt onto his lapel.

He regretted the move as soon as he'd made it. The stuff stunk as it clung to his clothes. Lewis patted at his shirt, trying to get it to fade away.

It didn't.

Lewis ended up having to change clothes to get the smell to fade, and even then, what was left on his skin was strong. Lewis brushed at it, but it didn't fade. Lewis worried about it for a second, but he had no plans to meet Cleo that day. What harm could come from him having the slightest bit of ambergris on him? He'd shower later to wash it all the way off. Lewis tossed the brown shirt and jeans into the laundry hamper.

Lewis poured a few drops of the perfume over a slide and slid it under the microscope. He examined it for several seconds, noting the properties of the liquid on a pad of paper he had in front of him. He worked for several hours, trying to keep notes on every aspect of the liquid. For the most part, the ambergris seemed normal. It stunk, and badly, and it certainly succeeded on keeping Lewis from having anyone else look at it. It smelled too bad.

Lewis examined the slide closely. He couldn't determine what was making the slide so hard to read. He'd read many droplets before, but this slide had properties that he'd never seen before. He took careful notes. After writing down as much as he could, Lewis leaned back in his chair with a long sigh.

Lewis turned the bottle over in his hands, looking at the liquid inside. He couldn't help it, before long he found himself deep in a day dream. He walked in the juice net cafe, Cleo ran to him, jumped in his arms, and then-

The ring of the doorbell made Lewis jump out of his dream and back in to the present. He shook his head and headed down the steps and to the front door.

"Hi, Lewis." Cleo said casually as the front door opened.

Lewis's eyes widened as he saw Cleo on the other side of the door. Immediately, he slammed the door shut in her face.

"Um, Lewis?" Cleo frowned. "Is everything all right?"

Lewis's face appeared in the clear-glass window beside the front door.

"Oh, hey there Cleo." He said casually, through the glass.

"Hi..." Cleo said, bewildered.

"What?" Lewis shouted, holding one hand up to his ear.

"I said hi!." Cleo yelled back.

"Oh, right! Hi, Cleo!" Lewis grinned.

"What's going on?" Cleo gestured to the window. "Can I come in?"

"No!" Lewis said quickly.

"No?" Cleo said, bewildered.

"No," Lewis repeated, this time more casually. "I'm not feeling so great." Lewis coughed into his hand. "And I would hate for you to catch whatever it is that I have."

"You're sick?" Cleo looked concerned. "Let me come in and have a look at you, I can make you some soup-"

"Nope!" Lewis shouted. "I'm sure it's just a bug, but you know how it is. I give it to you, you give it to the rest of the town, and soon enough we've all got the black plague."

"Ok..." Cleo was completely flabbergasted by Lewis's behavior. "Well, I was just coming by to return your biology notes..."

"Fantastic. Slide them through the mail slot?" Lewis pointed to the opening in the door.

Hesitantly, Cleo folded the notes in half and pushed them through this slot in the door. She stood, examining Lewis closely.

"You don't seem sick." She observed.

"Oh, I am." Lewis coughed several times, and threw in a sneeze for good measure. "Really. You should go."

"Ok." Cleo turned around slowly, keeping one eye on Lewis. She looked at him suspiciously for a few seconds longer before walking away.

"Whewwww." Lewis slid down the wall to sit on the floor. He hadn't wanted Cleo to get a whiff of the ambergris that still clung to his skin.

Quickly, before Cleo could return, Lewis dashed upstairs and took a shower.

A couple days passed. Lewis had examined the ambergris closely, but without doing testing on the mermaids there wasn't much more he could do with it. He had locked the bottle in a metal chest and pushed it up into the attic, where no one could ever find it.

The group had a huge biology exam looming over their heads, and they agreed to meet at Cleo's house to study.

Rikki, Emma, Lewis, and a reluctant Charlotte arrived at Cleo's at the same time and rang the bell. Charlotte hadn't wanted to join, but she also hadn't wanted Lewis to go alone. She didn't trust Cleo.

The group stepped back as Cleo opened the front door, a pained look on her face. Loud shouting came from inside the house.

"I told you I'd do it later!" Kim's shrill voice came from inside.

"And I told you to do it now!" Cleo's dad's voice yelled back.

Cleo stepped outside and shut the door behind her, silencing the screaming voices.

"Hey, guys." She said apologetically. "I don't think my house is the best for studying today."

"Eliot has friends over at my place." Emma said.

"We can use my house?" Charlotte suggested.

"Lewis!" Cleo said quickly. "Why don't we go to Lewis's house?"

"Sure." Lewis blinked.

Cleo and Rikki locked eyes. There was no way they were going to go to Charlotte's house. They rolled their eyes and started walking towards where Lewis lived.

They spread out in Lewis's living room and pulled out their books and notes. An hour later, Rikki stood up and stretched.

"I feel way smarter." She said. "I think we can call it a night?"

"Are you crazy?" Emma looked at Rikki as if she'd grown a second head. "We've only just started."

Reluctantly, Rikki sank back down onto the couch and picked up her biology book.

A phone rang shrilly, making the group jump.

"Sorry guys," Charlotte apologized, picking up her phone. She stepped out of the room to answer and came back just a few seconds later.

"I have to go," She said, disappointed. "My mom needs help with a catering project."

"Aw, really? So soon?" Rikki couldn't hide the sarcasm in her voice.

Charlotte didn't notice. "I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked Lewis.

Lewis nodded. "Yup."

Charlotte pecked him on the cheek and headed out the door.

"Thank goodness she's gone." Rikki said loudly.

"I'll second that." Cleo said under her breath.

"Now guys..." Lewis started.

"We know, we know," Rikki walked into the kitchen to get a drink. "Didn't you see how nice I was today?"

"Sure did." Lewis said sarcastically. "Good job."

Rikki nodded, pleased with herself.

After a few more hours of studying, led mostly by Emma, the group began to disperse. Emma headed out first, followed by Rikki.

Cleo hung around for a few more minutes, enjoying a rare moment alone with Lewis. They laughed at a television program before Cleo stood up to go.

"Big plans tonight?" Cleo asked Lewis, who was jogging up the stairs.

A few seconds later Lewis reappeared, carrying a laundry basket. "Oh, huge plans." Lewis said seriously. He held up the basket. "Laundry."

Cleo giggled. "Need any help?" Really Cleo just didn't want to leave yet.

"Um, sure." Lewis didn't need help, but he didn't want Cleo to leave either. And laundry was complicated, wasn't it?

The pair told jokes and laughed as Cleo handed the contents of the basket to Lewis, who put them into the washer. Cleo picked up the last item, a brown shirt, from the bottom of the basket and handed it to Lewis. She froze as he took it from her.

Cleo inhaled deeply. "Lewis, what is that?"


	2. For pleasure

Cleo's eyelids fluttered as she breathed in the scent of the ambergris that still clung to the shirt. Quickly, before Lewis had a chance to dodge her, she stepped up to Lewis and pushed herself up against him, pinning the scented shirt in between them. A huge smile spread across her face and her eyes lit up brightly. She leaned into Lewis so closely that Lewis could have counted her eyelashes and took another long breath. A second later, she wrapped her arms around Lewis's neck and pulled him close to her as tightly as she could.

Lewis let out a high-pitched, very nervous giggle. His heart was beating extremely fast. He knew exactly why Cleo was acting this way, and he knew that he ought to put an immediate stop to it, but...

Here was the perfect opportunity to observe the effects of the ambergris up close, right? In reality, he would be a very poor scientist if he ended this now, before he could record any (Lewis shivered as Cleo blew in his ear) data.

"Um, Cleo?" Lewis put both hands on Cleo's shoulders and gently removed her arms from his neck.

Cleo backed up very slightly, still beaming at him. Her smile was bright and open as she gazed up at Lewis.

Lewis looked into Cleo's eyes, trying not to notice how deep they were. He spoke slowly. "Do you know where you are right now?"

Cleo didn't answer with words. She answered by leaping forward, pinning Lewis against the washing machine and pressing her lips against his.

All thoughts of being a good scientist and observing the effects of the ambergris immediately flew from Lewis's mind as he returned Cleo's kiss. He gripped her waist in his hands and closed his eyes, allowing himself to lose himself even further in the moment.

Cleo kissed him enthusiastically, occasionally pausing to giggle. Lewis smiled, remembering how much he liked being close to her.

'It's the ambergris.' Lewis reminded himself. 'This isn't Cleo.' Lewis tried to make himself stop kissing her, but his mouth didn't seem to want to listen. 'Ok.' He thought to himself, 'I'm going to stop her. I am. I mean, I will, in just a few more seconds-'

"Lewis?" a voice shouted from the doorway.

Lewis looked up, totally shocked, his lips still puckered.

Charlotte stood at the doorway to the laundry room with her hands on her hips and a look of death on her face.

"Hiiiiiiii Charlotte!" Lewis said with a bright but incredibly guilty voice.

"What do you think you're doing?" Charlotte exclaimed shrilly.

Cleo draped herself around Lewis's neck as he stammered. "I...uh, well... I was... doing some scientific research." Lewis looked at Charlotte hopefully.

Charlotte's eyes were locked on Cleo. "Scientific research, huh?" She said bitterly. "Well factor this into your results. Goodbye, Lewis. For good." Charlotte spun on her heel and stalked out of the room.

"Goodbye Charlotte!" Cleo said dreamily as she petted Lewis's face with both of her hands.

"Charlotte, wait!" Lewis tried to dash after her, but he couldn't move very quickly with Cleo attached to him. The brown shirt feel to the floor, but the ambergris had already rubbed off onto Lewis. By the time Lewis made it to the front door, Charlotte was gone.

"Well that's just great." Lewis sighed.

"Everything is great." Cleo cooed happily. Suddenly, her face fell. "Lewis, do you like her more than me?" She cried dramatically. "You do! Don't you!"

Cleo clutched Lewis tightly to her. "I'll make you forget all about her." She said determinedly. "Oh, Lewis," Her voice became quiet, "I'll make you mine."

And with that, Cleo pulled Lewis in for another kiss, this one a bit rougher than the one before.

Lewis felt himself drifting away again, but he somehow managed to snap himself out of it.

"Cleo," Lewis managed, with a raspy voice. "I need to tell you something."

"Oh Lewis, I love you too," Cleo whispered without opening her eyes.

Her statement stopped Lewis short. He had so badly wanted to hear Cleo say those words for such a long time. Still, this was no time for that. Cleo would tell a lamp post that she loved it if it smelled like ambergris.

"No, no, Cleo, I need you to focus. Focus on me." Lewis spoke calmly.

"Gladly." Cleo grinned.

All of a sudden, it seemed like Cleo had a dozen arms instead of only two. Lewis tried to keep her arms down at her side, but she kept slipping them around his neck. And up his shirt. And down his pants- Lewis caught that hand immediately.

Lewis spoke slowly. "Cleo, do you remember earlier this week, when you three girls were attracted to Nate because of that perfume that Zane found? Ambergris?

Cleo's eyes wandered down to Lewis's chest as he spoke. "You've got great pecs." She murmured, running her hands across his chest.

"Cleo, focus." Lewis managed.

Lewis took both of Cleo's hands and held them firmly in front of him. This took superhuman effort, not because Cleo was stronger than him, but because Lewis didn't want her to stop.

"Cleo," Lewis said reluctantly. "You don't mean this-"

"Oh yes I do." Cleo said enthusiastically. "Of course I do! Lewis, I don't want you to ever leave my side."

"Oooohh... Cleo..." Lewis was having a really hard time focusing. Somehow he managed to pull himself together. "We really need to fix this."

"Yes." Cleo's eyes pierced Lewis's. "Let's 'fix' this." Cleo's hands slid over Lewis's chest and started to slide down towards his..."

"Cleo!" Lewis's voice went all high pitched. "We need to go upstairs."

"Great idea." Cleo leaned in so that Lewis could smell her perfume. "Let's... go upstairs." She winked at Lewis seductively.

"OH." Lewis realized what Cleo was saying. "No, I didn't mean... well I didn't mean that. I mean, I need to take a shower."

"That sounds like fun." Cleo's face lit up as she ran her hands down Lewis's back.

"No!" Lewis practically shouted. He composed himself quickly, breathing hard. This was really hard. "I mean, I need to take shower. You need to just wait. By yourself."

Cleo's face went from ecstatic to morose. "You don't want me to shower with you?"

"No." Lewis said quickly. "I mean, yeah I do, but no. Cleo, I need you to wait for me while I take a shower."

"No." Cleo had a mischievous look on her face.

"No?" Lewis repeated dumbly.

"No." Cleo said with a smile. "You aren't going anywhere without me."

Lewis gave a bit of nervous laughter. "Ah, yes I am."

Moving slowly, Lewis made his way up the steps with Cleo attached to his right arm. He brought her into his bedroom and sat her down on his bed.

"I love your bed." Cleo rolled over on the comforter, sighing with happiness.

"Good." Lewis said nervously. "Now, you just stay here. Right here. Don't move. Ok?"

Cleo was too busy wrapping herself up in the pillowy comforter to answer Lewis. Lewis took the opportunity to sneak down the short hall to the bathroom. He quickly twisted the knob on the shower and got the water running. Then, moving as quickly as possible, he pulled off the shirt he was wearing and chucked off his pants.

"Lewis!" The voice made Lewis jump a mile. He looked up to see Cleo peeking in through the bathroom door.

"Cleo!" Lewis was still wearing his boxers, but he crossed his arms over himself anyway. "What are you doing?"

Cleo burst into the bathroom. "I'm being with you." She said matter of factly. "Lewis, I never want to be without you."

"That's great." Lewis muttered, brainstorming as fast as he could. "But Cleo, I really do need to take a shower."

"Then I'll shower with you." Cleo stated.

"No, Cleo, you can't take a shower." Lewis said carefully.

"Because you don't like me." Cleo's happy expression dissolved into one of dispair.

"No! It's not that at all!" Lewis comforted her. "But Cleo, if you step into the water in the shower you'll..." Lewis's voice trailed off as he looked at her meaningfully.

Cleo's face was blank. "I'll what?"

Lewis's eyes widened. "You'll... turn into a mermaid?"

Realization hit Cleo's eyes. "Oh, that." She shook her head. "That's ok, I don't mind."

"Actually..." Lewis said under his breath. "That's not such a bad idea."

Self consciously, Lewis quickly redressed. "Cleo," He said. She was sitting on his bedroom floor watching him dreamily.

"Yes?" She whispered.

"Do you want to go for a swim?" Lewis opened his bedroom door.

"No." Cleo said, surprising him.

"Ah, you don't?" Lewis had been sure that Cleo would want to swim in the ocean.

Cleo stood, walked over to the door, and firmly swung it shut with one hand. "I don't want to swim. I want to stay right..." Cleo took a step closer to Lewis. "Here." She took another step.

Lewis couldn't seem to catch his breath as he looked into Cleo's eyes. "Cleo..." His words trailed off.

"Yes, Lewis?" Cleo's words dripped with affection.

"This isn't you." Lewis spoke with his eyes closed. "You need to stop." Lewis took a step back.

"I don't want to." Cleo matched his step by following him. "Let's stay in here for a while." Cleo's suggestive voice caused chills to run down Lewis's spine.

At that moment, Lewis's phone rang. He practically sprinted to pick it up off the bedside table and flipped it open.

"Zane!" Lewis didn't think he'd ever been quite so relieved to hear his voice. "Listen, I need you to come over to my house. Right now."

Cleo stood behind Lewis with her arms linked around Lewis's middle. She tucked her face into Lewis's face as he talked into the phone, and after a few seconds she began gently nibbling on his ear.

"Ok. And I mean NOW." Lewis said emphatically as he clicked the phone shut. "Zane will be here soon." He told Cleo, trying to pull her face from his neck.

"I don't want Zane, I want you." Cleo was relentless, running her hands over Lewis's back.

Zane would be there soon. If anything, he could hold Cleo down while Lewis showered, Lewis thought to himself. With two against one everything would be solved soon enough.

Lewis checked his watch. If Zane came straight from his house to Lewis's, he would be there in less than ten minutes.

Ten minutes. Lewis looked at Cleo. This might be his last chance to be with her. He thought he knew how he could fill those ten minutes...

Lewis reached for Cleo. The pair embraced as if they hadn't seen each other in years. For the moment, Lewis forgot about Charlotte, he forgot about the ambergris, he forgot about everything. He lost himself in Cleo.


	3. For goodness sakes

Zane stepped up to Lewis's front door and rang the bell. He waited a few seconds, but no one came to the door. Zane sighed and pressed the bell again, waiting impatiently for Lewis to answer. Zane checked his watch. It hadn't taken long for him to get there, and Lewis had seemed pretty anxious when they'd spoken. So where was he?

After ringing the bell a third time and getting no answer, Zane hesitantly pushed the front door open and stepped inside.

"Lewis?" He called.

Muffled sounds were coming from the living room. Zane walked slowly through the hall and towards the sounds. He stood at the entrance to the living room, facing the back of a large gray couch.

"Hey, Lewis?" He shouted louder.

Lewis's head popped up from where he was hidden on the couch. His face was flushed and his hair was messy. He was panting really hard.

Zane walked over quickly. "Are you ok?"

Just then Cleo's head popped up to join Lewis's. She had a dreamy grin on her flushed face. Her hair was wild she couldn't stop giggling. She was laying practically on top of Lewis, who had been laying on his back.

"Oh." Zane's eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed. "What-"

"Zane, I need your help." Lewis managed to stand up from the couch with Cleo practically hanging off of him. She kept trying to unbutton his shirt as he stood there.

"Whoa." Zane held his hands up. "Sorry, dude. I'm not into that sort of thing." Zane turned to walk back out the door with a bewildered expression on his face.

"No! Zane!" Lewis dragged Cleo behind him as he followed Zane down the hall. "It's the ambergris!"

Zane stopped and turned back to look at Lewis and Cleo. Instant realization hit his face as he observed Cleo's behavior. A smirk spread across his face.

"So..." Zane crossed his arms over his chest. "What about it? The ambergris?"

Lewis rolled his eyes. He gestured to Cleo, who had succeeded in unbuttoning Lewis's shirt and was now trying her hardest to remove it.

"What do you think?" Lewis said, exasperated.

"Oh, I have no idea." Zane gave Zane a mischievous grin. "I want to hear you say it."

Lewis looked at Zane stonily. He managed to pin Cleo's arms down at her side before he spoke.

"Ok." Lewis spoke as fast as he could. "I saved out a bit of the ambergris to run some tests on it I sprayed a little on my shirt and Cleo found the shirt and pressed it on me and now..." Lewis didn't quite meet Zane's eye.

"Ha!" Zane gave a triumphant laugh. "I knew you couldn't resist!" Zane doubled over with laughter.

Lewis stood, staring straight ahead and holding Cleo's arms down at her sides while Zane dissolved into laughter.

When Zane finally regained composure he was wiping tears from his eyes. "So what do you need me for?" He asked, still catching his breath. "I mean, it seems like you've got everything under control."

Cleo slipped her arms out of Lewis's grasp and faced him, pushing him up against the hallway wall and kissing him. Her fingers pulled at his hair.

Lewis blushed. "Cleo- hey- Cleo" He tried to get her to back up, but she wasn't having it.

"I'm telling you." Zane said with mock seriousness. "It just doesn't seem like you're in that bad of a spot."

"I am!" Lewis managed to get out between kisses.

"What's the hurry?" Zane stuck his hands in his pockets.

Lewis managed to get one hand clapped over Cleo's mouth. "Charlotte saw her kissing me." Lewis breathed.

Zane shrugged. "So? I never liked Charlotte anyway."

"Come on, Zane." Lewis said frustratedly. "She's my girlfriend. Just hold Cleo down so that I can shower?"

"Ah, now, I dunno." Zane paced in a small circle, pretending to be thinking things over. "What if some of that stuff rubs off on me? You wouldn't want Cleo alone with me, would you?" Zane's eyes sparkled and he tried not to laugh.

Lewis frowned. "I'm sure we'll be careful so that that doesn't happen." He said sarcastically. "Can you just hold her?"

"Ok, Cleo." Zane sounded like he was talking to a toddler. "Come here."

"No." Cleo finally succeeded in getting Lewis's shirt off of his shoulders.

"Cleo," Lewis shrugged the shirt off, causing Cleo to squeal with delight, and gave her a gentle push away from him.

"Lewis, no!" Cleo glued herself around Lewis, latching on as tightly as she could.

Lewis looked up at Zane, who was laughing hard as he watched. "A little help?" Lewis called.

Still laughing under his breath, Zane managed to pry Cleo away from Lewis. He tossed her over his shoulder, kicking and screaming, like a sack of potatoes.

"Where do you want her?" Zane looked at Lewis expectantly.

"Uh, my room." Lewis suggested. "In case my parents come home."

"So... you want the girl who's trying to heat things up with you in your bedroom IN CASE your parents come home?" Zane said conversationally. "That's a new one."

"Oh just carry her upstairs." Lewis said lamely.

Zane carried Cleo up the steps and dropped her onto Lewis's bed. "Now what?" He looked at Lewis expectantly.

"Pin her, hold her, sit on her, I don't care." Lewis was freaking out a bit. "Just keep her in here while I get a shower, ok?"

Zane looked at Cleo thoughtfully. "You know, the girls weren't anywhere near this bad when Nate had ambergris on him.

"I know it." Lewis said wearily. "But I don't have time to worry about that. Can you PLEASE just hold her down?"

Zane gave Lewis a sarcastic salute and turned his attention to Cleo. Cleo was in the middle of trying to climb out of bed and reach for Lewis when Zane bear-hugged her around the middle, holding her down on the bed.

"Lewis, don't leave!" Cleo shouted desperately.

"Go on, I've got her." Zane waved Lewis away.

Lewis looked at Cleo for just one more second, trying to commit the look on her face to his memory before he turned to dash down the hall to the bathroom.

Lewis scrubbed himself down with soap and put on a clean set of clothes before walking back to the bedroom. He expected Cleo to be sitting calmly in the room, probably confused, when he opened the door.

Lewis's eyes widened as he opened his bedroom door. Zane had Cleo pinned down on the bed, holding her arms behind her. Cleo was rolling and thrashing, trying to get free of his grasp.

"Zane!" Lewis shouted. "Let her go! She'll be fine by now, she's not exposed to the ambergris anymore!"

"You sure about that?" Zane raised his eyebrows.

"You're hurting her." Lewis said concerned as he gestured for Zane to get up.

"You've got it." Zane sat up and stood out of the bed, releasing Cleo.

Cleo blinked blankly a few times before she looked up at Lewis.

Lewis quickly sat down on the bed beside her. "Cleo," He began apologetically. "Let me explain-"

Before he could get another word out, Cleo's eyes lit up and the goofy smile returned to her face.

"No... way..." Lewis tried to stand back up but Cleo got her hands on him before he could make it. She tackled him backwards on the bed, nestling her face into his neck and giggling.

Lewis looked up at Zane in shock, a look of bewilderment on his face. "What the-"

Zane raised his shoulders and shook his head. "I tried to tell you. She hasn't gotten back to normal yet."

"But-" Lewis checked to make sure he was wearing clean clothes. He was. "It only took them a few seconds to get back to normal when it was Nate they were attracted to."

"Correct." Zane nodded.

"So what's going on with this one? Cleo, quit it." Lewis couldn't keep from giggling as Cleo licked his neck.

Zane shrugged wordlessly. "I dunno, but," Zane checked his watch. "I have a date with Rikki. You, ah, have fun." With a grin Zane walked out of the bedroom.

"Wait! Zane, don't go yet!" Lewis called. He heard the front door close behind Zane as he left.

Lewis flopped back down on to the bed with a sigh.

"It's just you and me, Lewis." Cleo whispered in his ear.

Lewis's eyes widened and he sat up in bed like a shot. "Let's go downstairs." He said in a high-pitched voice.

"No, let's stay up here." Cleo gave his ear a nibble and ran her hand over Lewis's chest.

"Nope. Downstairs. Now." Lewis took Cleo by the hand and dragged her down the steps with him.

Lewis heard his phone ringing as he reached the landing of the steps. He picked it up off the counter and groaned when he saw Charlotte's name on the caller ID.

"Listen, Cleo, I need you to be really quiet for me for just a second, ok?" Lewis said hurriedly.

Cleo hugged Lewis around the waist and swayed back and forth happily.

Lewis took a deep breath and held the phone up to his ear. In the most casual voice he could manage he spoke cheerily.

"Charlotte! What's up?"

"What's up?" The cold voice came from the other end of the phone. "I thought I'd see if you cared to explain yourself?"

"Explain myself?" Lewis laughed nervously. "Actually, there is a very simple solution to what you saw earlier. And I will be more than glad to explain it to you... later."

"And what's wrong with right now?" Charlotte said hotly.

"Right now is fine." Lewis was distracted by Cleo, who was rubbing his shoulders. He quickly snapped out of it. "Except that it isn't. Can I call you tomorrow?"

"Whatever." Charlotte muttered.

"Lewwiisss..." Cleo spoke in a singsong voice.

"Who is that?" Charlotte practically shrieked.

"No one!" Lewis panicked. "My parrot!"

"You don't have a parrot." Charlotte retorted.

"Just got one." Lewis shut his phone quickly and threw it onto the counter.

Lewis managed to get Cleo seated on the couch as long as he promised to sit beside her. He clicked on the television, checking his watch nervously. His parents would be home before too much longer. He had maybe a couple hours til they were due.

The first hour passed slowly, with Cleo showing absolutely no sign of calming down any time soon.


	4. For desperation

Lewis checked his watch for what had to be the thousandth time. He guessed that he only had about an hour left before his mother got home.

"Cleo, what did we talk about?" Lewis lectured as he pulled Cleo's arms off of his neck and placed them firmly back in her own lap.

"But why can't I hold you?" Cleo whined.

Lewis looked into Cleo's pleading eyes and almost melted. Almost, but not quite. It was taking serious self control to keep himself from totally going with it.

"Because." Lewis said simply. Cleo pouted, huffing as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Lewis picked up his phone and dialed Zane's number. It went to voicemail, just like it had the last three times Lewis had tried to call him.

Lewis stood up and went to walk to the kitchen, but before he could make it three steps away Cleo had locked her arms around his waist.

"Don't leave me, Lewis." She said dreamily.

"I'm just getting a drink." Lewis said frustratedly.

"I'll get it!" Cleo raced into the kitchen and pulled a can of soda out of the refrigerator. "Here!" She said enthusiastically as she handed it to Lewis with a bright smile. "What else can I do for you?" Cleo looked up at Lewis expectantly.

Lewis froze for just a second. "Uhhh... Nothing." He closed his eyes, trying not to give away what he was really thinking. "Nope, you can't do a thing."

"Oh, come on." Cleo stepped in so close that Lewis could smell her perfume. "Are you sure there isn't anything I can do?" She batted her eyes at him flirtatiously.

"Oh... Cleo..." Lewis shook his head hard and backed away. He calmed himself. "Listen, you have to stop this, it isn't you."

"But you don't want me to stop, not really." Cleo matched his step backwards with a step forward.

"Well," Lewis's voice squeaked. He quickly recovered. "It really doesn't matter so much what I want. Now come on, sit down."

Cleo skipped after Lewis towards the living room. Lewis flopped down onto the couch wearily and, to his surprise, Cleo plopped down right on his lap.

"Cleo!" Lewis managed.

"Shhhhh." Cleo put one finger over Lewis's lips. "Just relax, Lewis. It's me." Cleo looked deep into Lewis's eyes.

Lewis couldn't keep himself still any longer. He wrapped his arms around Cleo's neck and pulled her face to his, kissing her deeply. He instantly felt himself relax as he breathed Cleo in. Right as he really began to lose himself, the buzz of the doorbell shocked him back into the present.

Lewis froze. The doorbell rang again, this time for longer than before.

"Cleo." Lewis spoke slowly but urgently. "This is very very important. I need to go see who's at the door and you need to stay right here, do you understand?"

"No." Cleo said simply. "I want to be with you." She smiled and wrapped one arm around Lewis's neck.

"And I want to be with you," Lewis humored her as he removed her arm from his neck. "But can you just wait here for one second?"

The bell rang again.

"No I can't." Cleo said stubbornly.

"Ok," Lewis thought fast. "I'll tell you what. If you can be a good girl and wait for me right here, and not make any noise, I'll... I'll..."

Cleo's eyes lit up. "You'll never wear a shirt ever again?" She suggested enthusiastically.

"Ah, sure." Lewis nodded. "Whatever will make you wait right here."

Cleo clapped her hands happily and bounced on the couch. "Hurry!" She squealed. "I don't want to be away from you for very long!"

"Yeah..." Lewis stood up and hurried to the front door as the bell rang for a fourth time. He turned around to check on Cleo, but she was still sitting obediently on the couch smiling.

Lewis peeked through the eye hole of the door. Immediately he spun around, pressing his back to the door as if he was going to hold it shut.

"Charlotte." Lewis whispered to himself.

Loud knocking made the door rattle behind Lewis.

"Ok" Lewis gave himself a quick mental pep talk before turning back to face the door. Plastering the biggest smile he could on his face, he quickly whipped the door open, making Charlotte jump. Lewis stepped outside as fast as he could and then slammed the door shut behind him.

Charlotte jumped back as Lewis flew out the door. "What took you so long?" She said haughtily as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh, you know..." Lewis stalled. "I was just doing the dishes. Must not have heard the bell."

Charlotte did not look convinced. "Let me in, we need to talk." Charlotte tried to open Lewis's front door. Lewis immediately blocked her way.

"Sorry, Charlotte, you can't come in." He said hastily.

"Why not?" Charlotte looked at Lewis suspiciously.

"Because... my brother is asleep." Lewis held up his hands and raised his shoulders. "I'm not supposed to wake him."

Charlotte's eyes narrowed. "Your brother is 23 years old." She stated coolly.

"Yeah, well, he has a hard day at work tomorrow." Lewis said innocently.

"Lewis!" Charlotte shouted in exasperation. "What is it you aren't telling me? And what in the world were you and Cleo up to earlier?"

"Nothing!" Lewis said angelically. He offered up a smile but it faded under Charlotte's withering stare.

"You were kissing her." She said seriously.

"Well..." Lewis couldn't think of a way to excuse himself from her accusation. He HAD been kissing Cleo.

"That's what I thought." Charlotte couldn't hide the hurt she felt. "We're finished, Lewis." Charlotte turned on her heel and began to stalk away.

"No, Charlotte, wait-" Lewis chased her down the walk and blocked her way. "Charlotte, please." Lewis spoke seriously. "Let me explain tomorrow. I'll explain everything, just wait until tomorrow."

Charlotte looked into Lewis's eyes. He appeared to be genuinely desperate.

"Ok." She said calmly. "I'll meet you at the pier tomorrow at ten in the morning. But that's it." She said firmly. "If you aren't there we're done. For good."

"That's perfect." Relief spread over Lewis's face. "Tomorrow, I'll be there."

"Ok." Charlotte looked at Lewis's face. She still wasn't convinced. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes," Lewis said firmly. "Tomorrow everything should be fine."

Charlotte nodded and walked away down the path towards the cafe. Somehow she didn't feel any better. What was Lewis doing behind her back?

Lewis watched Charlotte walk away, insanely relieved that the confrontation had gone over as simply as it had. He quietly slipped the front door open and walked inside, trying not to draw attention to himself.

"Lewis!" Cleo shouted as he stepped in the door. "I've missed you!"

Cleo didn't waste any time as she unbuttoned Lewis's shirt.

"Let's get this off of you." She murmured as she pulled the shirt off of Lewis's arms. She succeeded in removing it and tossed it to the floor. "Want to go upstairs?" She asked suggestively, raising one eyebrow.

"Upstairs?" Lewis repeated, unaware of what Cleo was saying.

Cleo ran her hands down Lewis's chest, making their way towards his belt buckle.

Lewis's eyes widened. "Oh! Upstairs! No!" Lewis pulled Cleo's hands away from his belt and dragged her over to the couch. "Let's just, sit. And watch some television."

"But I don't want to watch tv." Cleo said dreamily. "I want to watch you."

"Yeah, well, you can watch whatever you want." Lewis stammered. "But just keep your hands to yourself."

"I have an idea!" Cleo exclaimed gleefully. "Let's go for a swim." She looked up at Lewis lovingly.

"A swim?" Lewis furrowed his brow. "Cleo, I'm not sure that's such a good... wait." Lewis's mind was working hard. "Actually, that may not be such a bad idea." Maybe there was still a little ambergris left on his skin. Going for a swim might wash it off. Cleo would be back to normal.

Cleo clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Great! We can swim out to mako island!"

"Well," Lewis began," I'm not sure I can swim all the way out there, but why don't we just swim right off the pier?"

"Aw, Lewis." Cleo pouted. "I really want to be at mako with you."

"I know you do," Lewis humored her. "But I don't have a tail, Cleo. I can't swim that far. Don't you think we can swim right off the pier for today?"

Lewis's phone rang, startling him. He fumbled for it, flipping it open. "Hello?" He managed.

"Hey Lewis, honey!" Came his mother's familiar voice. "I'm just on my way home from the office, what would you like for dinner tonight?"

Lewis thought fast. His mother only worked a few minutes away. He didn't have very long to get Cleo back to normal before she got home.

"Ah," Lewis tried to speak calmly. "Whatever is fine. In fact, I don't think I'll be here. Big test tomorrow, really need to study."

"Ok then." His mother said cheerily. "I'll have something ready for you later tonight then."

"Great. Thanks." Lewis said as he flipped his phone closed. He turned to look at Cleo, who was still smiling blankly at him.

"Cleo," Lewis said slowly. "Are you absolutely sure you aren't feeling a little bit.. off?" Surely the ambergris must be wearing off by now.

"Off?" Cleo repeated. "I love you, Lewis. Is that off?"

Cleo was looking at hims so sweetly Lewis found himself melting. "No, it isn't off." He whispered. He quickly composed himself. "How about we take that trip out to mako?"

"Really?" Cleo said excitedly. "Let's go now!"

"Great." Lewis tried to sound enthusiastic. Internally he was freaking out. Why wasn't Cleo back to normal? And why did the ambergris affect her so completely? All Lewis knew was that he needed to get Cleo out of the house. He had no idea how to explain her behavior to his mother when she came home.

"Shall we swim together?" Cleo was practically dragging Lewis outside.

"Um, we can try." Lewis choked out as he stumbled out the front door behind her.

"Wonderful." Cleo had pulled Lewis all the way to the edge of the dock. "Ready?"

Before Lewis could answer, Cleo dove into the water with a firm grasp on Lewis's collar. Lewis found himself flying through the water faster than he ever had before in a matter of seconds. It wasn't much longer before he realized he needed a gulp of oxygen.

Lewis hit Cleo's hand desperately. Eventually she paused long enough to look at Lewis's beet-red face. She released him long enough for him to swim to the surface and take a few long breaths of oxygen before she took his hand and started their journey back up. They traveled that way all the way to mako island, her letting him breath and then dragging him along. Eventually they made it into the moon pool.


	5. For her

Lewis was sputtering and gasping for air as he broke the surface of the moon pool. He dog paddled his way to the edge and used every ounce of strength he had left to pull himself out of the water. He watched for Cleo as he brushed water out of his eyes.

"Cleo?" Lewis called. She had been swimming with him the whole way there.

Lewis's pulse got quick. Maybe she had recovered. Maybe the spell of the ambergris had faded away by now.

Cleo surfaced, the same dopey smile still spread across her face. Lewis's brief feeling of hope evaporated. She was still clearly lovestruck. But how? How in the world was the ambergris still affecting her?

Lewis pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the pool, thinking hard. Cleo swam over to him, resting her chin on Lewis's knee. She looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Don't you want to swim with me?" She cooed.

Lewis chuckled. "I don't think I can handle swimming with you anymore."

Cleo looked disappointed but didn't push the issue. Lewis watched her out of the corner of his eye.

"Cleo," He said seriously. "This is very important."

"Yes?" Cleo's smile dazzled through the cave.

Lewis made himself stop thinking about Cleo's smile and continued. "I need you to focus." He said. "Really think. Are you absolutely positive you don't feel funny at all?"

Cleo furrowed her brow for a second before switching back to a vacant grin. "I feel wonderful." She giggled. "Now come on in the water."

"No, Cleo. I'm not going to do that." Lewis said wearily.

"Why not?" Cleo frowned. She ran one hand over Lewis's knee and let her hand rest on his leg.

"Because!" Lewis could feel himself cracking. He couldn't handle much more of this. He gently but firmly removed Cleo's hand from his lap.

"But because why?" Cleo pushed.

"Because this isn't you!" Lewis backed away, out of Cleo's reach. "Cleo, you're only acting this way because of the ambergris perfume. You don't mean it."

"Why does it matter?" Cleo pouted. "I love you. I want to be with you. Why do you care if it's because of some silly perfume?" She looked up at Lewis with pleading eyes.

Lewis weighed the scales of good morals in his head. Cleo did have a point... No. Lewis chastised himself. As much as he wanted to be with Cleo, he didn't want to be with her if it wasn't her decision.

Lewis looked around the cave with a sigh, swatting Cleo's hand away as she reached for his knee. He had thought that the swim to Mako would wash whatever trace of the ambergris that was left away, but Cleo was just as loopy as before.

Cleo looked up at Lewis's face. "You look sad." She stuck out her lower lip.

"Not sad." Lewis answered, rubbing his temples. "Stressed."

"I know how to relieve stress..." Cleo said mischievously. She started to pull herself out of the water.

"No!" Lewis jumped to his feet and ran to the opposite side of the cave, pressing his back against the stone wall.

"No?" Cleo paused, holding herself up on the side of the pool. "But Lewis, I can make you feel a lot better."

"Nope, no, nah, you can't." Lewis stammered. "How about you just swim in the water a bit. Alone."

Cleo frowned. "I'm starting to get the feeling that you don't like me, Lewis."

"What?" Lewis looked at her. "Of course I like you."

"Then why won't you let me be with you?" Cleo asked.

"Cleo..." Lewis dropped his arms to his side and sat back down at the edge of the water. "Maybe we can talk about this later, after we get back home. Or tomorrow. Or next week." He added.

Cleo nodded, a wide smile reappearing across her face. "Sure." She grinned. "We can talk about it at home."

Cleo reached up and took Lewis's face in both of her hands. She pulled his face down to hers for a kiss. Lewis tumbled face first into the water, his lips locked onto Cleo's.

Lewis started to panic as the pair sank under the water. Cleo calmly ran her hands down Lewis's back, sending shivers running through him. She breathed warm oxygen to him through the kiss, and in a few moments Lewis found himself relaxing.

It was quiet there under the water, and dark. The only thing Lewis was aware of was Cleo, and the way he felt for her.

Cleo held Lewis close to her. She ran her fingers through his hair, occasionally grasping in in her hands and pulling it gently. The sensation drove Lewis crazy and, against his will, he felt himself getting lost in the embrace. His hands moved more urgently, wrapping tightly around Cleo's waist.

Cleo brought Lewis back up to the surface before breaking off the kiss. Lewis was surprised that she was the one to end it, and for just a second he was disappointed that the ambergris seemed to have worn off, but when he looked into her eyes he realized that she was very much still affected.

Cleo nibbled on Lewis's ear, making him inhale sharply at the pleasurable pain. She slowly ran her tongue around the outside of Lewis's ear and down his neck, settling in to nibble on the tender spot where neck turned into shoulder.

Lewis couldn't even think straight at that moment. He had his eyes closed and he was breathing heavily. Why had this been such a bad idea? He knew there had to have been a reason, but he couldn't remember what in the world it might have been. All thoughts slipped away as Lewis leaned down to kiss Cleo's neck.

Time seemed to stand still and at the same time it seemed to fly by. Cleo opened her eyes to gaze at Lewis.

"Do you want to... get out of the water?" She whispered.

Lewis nodded without hesitation, his eyes still closed. He quickly lifted himself out of the water and then turned to help pull Cleo out.

Cleo giggled wildly as Lewis set her down on the sand. "Give me a second to dry off." She said, teasing him by running one hand across Lewis's chest.

Cleo held her hands out over herself. With a twist of her hand she lifted off all of the water droplets that clung to her and directed them into the moon pool. A few seconds later, two tanned legs in a pair of shorts had reappeared.

Lewis was ready to tackle Cleo when he realized that he was still dripping wet. He stopped, shooting Cleo a panicked look.

"Don't move." Cleo murmured. She repeated her movement, drying off Lewis completely in no time.

Lewis quickly found himself standing, completely dry, only a few feet away from Cleo. Cleo walked to stand in front of him, smiling expectantly.

Cleo reached forward with her hands, massaging Lewis's shoulders and working their way down his shirt. In one swift movement she grasped the tail of his shirt and lifted it over his head.

Lewis found himself frozen as he looked at Cleo, who was smiling up at him. Was he really going to let this happen? Lewis found his brain at war with his body as he looked at Cleo. The curve of her hips, the smooth tanned skin, the way her curly hair fell down her shoulders...

Lewis closed his eyes. He thought of all the years he'd been friends with Cleo. Their history together was a long one. He'd known her since they were just kids. Did he really want to change things? Like this?

"No." Lewis breathed. He took a small step backwards.

"No?" Cleo said innocently. She tried to step towards Lewis but he backed away even further.

"Cleo, stop." Lewis said quickly. "We can't do this. Any of this. I don't know why the ambergris hasn't worn off yet but you just have to stop."

Lewis grabbed his shirt and quickly pulled it over his head. "We need to get back to the main land." He said, unable to meet Cleo's eyes.

"What?" Cleo stood behind Lewis, wrapping her arms around him. She leaned her head on his back. "Lewis, you don't mean that. Stay here with me-"

"I said no." Lewis said, more firmly than before. "Cleo I owe you an apology. I let this go way too far today. I should have just stayed away from you from the beginning. Well, from the first time the ambergris affected you."

"Then why didn't you?" Cleo reached for Lewis's face but Lewis caught her hands in his before she could reach him.

Lewis thought about how to answer her. He decided to go with honesty. After all, she wouldn't remember what he said after the effects of the ambergris wore off.

"I miss you." He said quietly. "I wish we'd never broken up, Cleo. And then, today, it was like you wanted me again. It was too easy for me to pretend like you really meant it."

"But I do mean it." Cleo's smile spread across her face.

"No, you don't." Lewis dropped her hands and took a step away from her. "Can we go back to the main land now?"

Darkness spread over Cleo's face. "You don't want me?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I can't want you." Lewis still couldn't meet her eyes.

"Yes you can. I'll make you." Cleo grabbed Lewis's arm and dove into the water without warning.

The swim back was just as stressful as the first one had been. Lewis gasped for air every time Cleo decided to let him up for a breath. They arrived on the coast at a secluded area of beach. Lewis helped Cleo onto the shore and waited while she dried herself off.

Lewis stood with his arms out, waiting for Cleo to dry him off as well, but Cleo marched right past him and towards his house.

"No, Cleo, wait!" Lewis panicked. He could see his mother's car parked in the driveway. He had absolutely no way of explaining Cleo's behavior to his mom. He chased after Cleo, but quickly realized that there wasn't much he could do to stop her. He was still dripping wet, if he touched her she would change into a mermaid and that would be even harder to explain.

Cleo was walking purposefully, turning her head to wink at Lewis just once before she stepped up onto the front porch.

Quick as a flash, Lewis threw himself between Cleo and the door. Cleo paused before leaning in and speaking seductively.

"What is it?" She whispered into his ear. "Let's go upstairs."

"That's not a good idea." Lewis said breathlessly. "Let's go to... Zane's house. Or Emma's. Anywhere but here."

"I told you I was going to make you want me." Cleo said silkily. "I think I'll do just that."

Lewis pressed himself against the door, but he hadn't thought that idea all the way through. Cleo calmly twisted the knob. The door opened inward, causing Lewis to tumble backwards, landing hard on his back. Cleo stepped over him and marched toward the kitchen.

"Cleo, what a lovely surprise." Lewis heard his mother exclaim.

"No..." Lewis groaned from his spot on the floor. He heard Cleo talking to his mother. Quickly, Lewis pulled himself up and dashed for the kitchen. There was no telling what Cleo could be saying.

"Cleo, stop!" Lewis shouted as he burst into the brightly lit kitchen.

Both Cleo and Lewis's mother looked up with curiosity at Lewis's outburst.

"Lewis, why are you shouting?" His mother asked as she took a roast out of the oven. "And why in the world are you all wet?"

Lewis was breathing heavily and sweating bullets as he looked from his mother to Cleo.

Cleo was standing calmly at the counter. "Yes, Lewis. Why the shouting?" She asked curiously. Her face was blank. All traces of the dopey grin had disappeared.

Lewis tilted his head slightly to one side, looking carefully at Cleo. Cleo still had a mischievous look on her face, but it was far different from the one she'd had earlier. She looked... normal.

"What is it?" She asked innocently. "You're looking at me awfully weird."

"Are you feeling alright?" Mrs. Mcartney set her oven mitts down as she examined her son.

"I'm fine." Lewis said breathily, still trying to calm down. "Are... you ok? Cleo?"

"Oh Lewis." Cleo walked past him casually. "I've been ok all day long." She walked calmly into the living room. "Actually," She paused. "I've been just fine ever since you showered. But you, well, you look like you've had a rough day." She plopped down on the couch. "Weird. Oh, and Zane wants you to call him."


	6. For understanding

Lewis stood frozen, staring at Cleo, who was flipping casually through a magazine. A full minute of silence passed before Lewis could manage to form words.

"Wha-" He tried to speak but failed. He felt confused, relieved, and panicked all at once. He took a long, deep breath before trying again.

"What?" He managed to get out, still standing frozen.

Cleo looked up at him with a calm face. "I've been faking it." She said slowly.

"Faking?" Lewis grabbed his hair as he made his legs walk to the other side of the room. "What do you mean you've been faking it? You had no way of knowing that I'd kept some of the ambergris, or that it had gotten on that shirt you handed me when we were doing laundry."

"Right." Cleo blushed ever so slightly. "Well, I wasn't faking it then. Actually, I don't remember much of that part."

"So, how...?" Lewis was still slightly freaking out as he tried to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Zane." The corner of Cleo's mouth turned up.

"Zane..." Lewis began to put the pieces together.

"The first thing I remember, I was laying on your bed with Zane pinning me down, which was really... weird." Cleo explained. "Zane told me what had been going on and he thought it would be a funny joke to see what you did if it didn't wear off. So, we figured I'd just keep playing along." Cleo looked up at Lewis guiltily.

A small laugh escaped from Lewis's lips. The small laugh quickly turned into a big laugh, which became a frantic laugh that brought him to his knees.

Cleo watched as Lewis collapsed into wild laughter on the floor. Lewis sat cross legged on the floor with his head in his hands as he cracked up. Eventually he looked up at Cleo, his eyes shining with tears and his face bright red as he gasped for oxygen.

"You've been tricking me." He gasped between laughter.

"A little." Cleo said, not sounding quite as confident as she had before.

Lewis rested his forearms on his knees and leaned forward towards Cleo. He spoke, still laughing bitterly. "Let me get this straight." Lewis almost sounded drunk as he spoke. "You were affected by the ambergris and then it wore off, and then you and my good friend Zane decided it would be fun to mess with my head and freak me out for the entire day, and you thought it would be a good laugh to watch me try not to be attracted to you, is that right?"

"No, that's not what I wanted." Cleo spoke quickly. She slid off the couch to sit beside Lewis on the floor.

"Then what did you want?" Lewis said angrily. He felt utterly embarrassed. He had behaved ridiculously and he knew it. And Cleo did too.

"I don't know." Cleo said quietly.

"I get that you wanted a laugh." Lewis looked at his hands. "But did you have to torture me like that? Did you get a good laugh out of it at least?"

"No, Lewis." Cleo reached for Lewis's hand but he pulled it away. "I was never trying to torture you."

Lewis laughed bitterly. "Right." He muttered.

Cleo looked at Lewis silently for a few seconds. Lewis didn't want to look at her. He kept picturing what had almost happened at the moon pool. When would she have stopped him?

"I'm glad you're back to normal." He said under his breath as he stood up. "You can go home now."

"Lewis, wait." Cleo pleaded.

"Are you two alright in there?" Lewis's mother called from the kitchen.

"We're fine." Lewis said, his voice empty of emotion. His eyes never left Cleo's.

"Please." Cleo spoke quietly. "Let's go up to your room. Let me talk to you, Lewis."

Wordlessly, Lewis turned and walked up the stairway to his room. Cleo followed him, her head bowed.

Lewis stepped to the side of his door and pushed it open. He let Cleo walk in first and then stepped in behind her, pulling the door closed behind the two of them.

"This had better be good." He said gloomily. He crossed his arms over his chest tightly.

"Oh, Lewis, don't pout." Cleo sat on Lewis's bed.

"Don't pout?" Lewis paced as he spoke. "Cleo, you let me act like an idiot today. You embarrassed me."

"I'm sorry." Cleo looked at Lewis regretfully. "I didn't really think things through, I just got carried away."

"Yeah." Lewis practically spat the word out. He looked at Cleo closely, locking her eyes in his. "Why? That's all I want to know. Why?"

"I just thought it would be funny." Cleo said weakly.

"Funny?" Lewis rubbed his temples. "Cleo, we almost... well we almost had, you know-"

"I know." Cleo whispered.

"And you were just having a laugh." Lewis said exasperatedly.

"No, I wasn't." Cleo said quickly. She stood in front of Lewis, looking at him seriously. "Lewis, at first I was just playing along. I thought I'd mess with you for a bit before telling you what I was up to."

Lewis tried to pull away from Cleo but she caught him by the elbow and made him face her.

"Lewis," Cleo said softly. "I may not have been under the influence of the ambergris, but I wasn't faking things at the moon pool tonight. Not really."

"Yes you were." Lewis couldn't make his thoughts calm down. He was getting more and more upset instead of calming down. "You were letting me make moves on you just so that you could laugh at me."

"No, I wasn't." Cleo said seriously. "I miss you." She whispered. "Today started off as something funny, a trick that Zane and I thought up. But it ended so differently. Lewis, I want to be back with you so badly. The way we kissed in the moon pool, in the water that way, that was real. You have to believe me."

Lewis managed to meet Cleo's eyes. "I was the one who stopped things earlier at the moon pool. What if I hadn't stopped. What would you have done?"

"I would have finished what we started." Cleo said seriously. "I wanted to."

"And you would have always thought that I was the kind of guy to take advantage of you." Lewis said under his breath.

"No." Cleo shook her head.

"Yeah." Lewis spoke. "If we had done... what we almost did back there... then in the back of your mind you would have always thought that I had taken advantage of the situation."

"Lewis," Cleo said seriously. "I'm sorry. Please believe that I am."

"And Charlotte?" Lewis raised his eyebrows. "You had no problem messing things up between me and her. How am I supposed to explain this to her?"

"Don't worry about her." Cleo said calmly. "That girl is nuts about you. You could throw her off a bridge and she'd still come running back to you. In fact... that's not such a bad idea..." Cleo grinned at Lewis but he did not return it. He just looked at her stonily.

"I really think you should go." Lewis looked towards the door.

"I feel terrible." Cleo looked miserable. "I didn't mean for things to go this way, Lewis. It's just, after we started I realized that I didn't want to tell you I was faking it. I knew you'd stop and I didn't want to end things just yet. I kept telling myself that I'd tell you, but time went by too fast and I just... didn't."

Cleo stood and walked to stand face to face with Lewis. Lewis still couldn't look her in the eye.

"I know you liked it." Cleo said softly. "Is it really such a bad thing? That we had fun with each other?"

"I've wanted to kiss you for weeks." Lewis admitted seriously. "I've thought about it, I've dreamed about it. But I never thought you'd mess with my head that way."

"Hey, you're the one who kept the ambergris." Cleo said defensively.

"To test it." Lewis nodded. "I never intended for you to know about it. You were never supposed to be affected."

"I'm sorry." Cleo murmured.

"Me too." Lewis said with finality. He opened the bedroom door and gestured for Cleo to walk through it.

Lewis followed Cleo down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Cleo, will you be staying for dinner?" Mrs. McCartney looked up from the stove.

"No." Lewis answered.

Cleo picked up her bag from where it sat by the couch. "Thanks for, ah, studying with me today Lewis. I'll fix things with Charlotte. I'll see you around."

Lewis just nodded as Cleo walked out the front door, shutting it quietly behind her.

"What's going on with Charlotte?" Lewis's mom asked conversationally.

"Nothing." Lewis said wearily. "I'm not hungry. I think I'll just head up to bed."

"Alright dear." Lewis's mother said absently as she stirred a pot on the stove.

Lewis made his way up to his room and dropped onto the bed with a sigh. His phone rang, startling him.

"Zane." Lewis muttered with distaste as his opened the phone. "What do you want?"

"So I guess you figured things out by now?" Zane's gleeful voice came from the other end of the phone. "How long did it take ya?"

"I don't want to hear it." Lewis said humorlessly.

"What?" Zane sounded taken aback. "It was all in good fun. How long did she keep it up? An hour?"

"Try the whole day." Lewis spoke.

"What? The whole day?" Zane sounded surprised. "We just thought it would be a funny thing to mess with you for a bit."

"Yeah, well, it went a little further than that." Lewis rubbed his forehead as he spoke.

"Whoa... What did you guys do?" Zane said chattily.

Lewis frowned and looked at the phone. "You sound like a thirteen year old girl." He said.

"Yeah, but what did you guys do?" Zane pushed excitedly.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow Zane." Lewis said tiredly. "And I'd watch your back if I were you."

"Right." Lewis could hear Zane laughing as he spoke. "Bye, Lewis."

Lewis set the phone on his nightstand, deep in thought. He jumped up, impulsively, and headed down the steps.

"Be right back." Lewis called to his mother as he bolted out the front door.

He needed to talk to Cleo.


	7. For love

Warning! If you get offended by lemons (non graphic though) then don't read this chapter!

* * *

><p>Lewis didn't need to call Cleo to know exactly where she was at that moment. He climbed straight into his boat and steered it towards Mako island. The sea air whipped at his face as the little boat flew over the water towards the secluded piece of land.<p>

Cleo stood, deep in thought, inside the cavern at the moon pool. She'd been pacing back and forth for what felt like forever. She felt like an idiot. When she'd agreed with Zane to fool Lewis she had thought that it would be funny. She only expected to carry on the act for a few minutes, just long enough to get a few good laughs from Lewis's behavior. She hadn't counted on how much she would enjoy it.

Cleo ran her hands through her hair, mentally scolding herself. She had been an idiot today. She hadn't realized how much she missed Lewis until today. It had felt so completely natural to flirt with him, to throw herself at him. She found herself wanting him just to go along with things, not to fight her. She was so attracted to him and she missed him so very much. She kicked herself for the thousandth time for dumping him.

"You're such an _idiot_." She muttered to herself. Lewis would never talk to her again after the stunt she'd pulled.

Cleo's head snapped towards the cave entrance as she heard a set of footsteps echoing down the path. She debated whether to swim away or wait and see who it was. Her sense of curiosity won out and she stood her ground, waiting to see who had come to her island.

To Cleo's surprise, Lewis came running into the cavern. He had a look of absolute determination on his flushed face and he was breathing hard.

"Lewis?" Cleo looked at him, confused. "Why did you come here?"

"To finish what I started." Lewis said breathlessly.

Lewis walked to Cleo determinedly, grasping her face in his hands. Without hesitation, he pulled her face to his in a deep and passionate kiss.

Cleo felt a hot pang of pleasure as Lewis kissed her. All thoughts of anything other than how much she loved Lewis faded from her mind.

Lewis's hands held Cleo's face tightly. Cleo's hands went to Lewis's back, almost hesitantly. Lewis pushed Cleo backward into the back wall of the cave, pushing himself hard against her as he did so.

Cleo gasped as she hit the wall, but not a gasp of displeasure. Truthfully, she loved this. She'd never felt quite so attracted to Lewis as she did right now. This forceful assertive guy thing really turned her on.

Lewis broke the kiss for just a second, turning his head to nibble on Cleo's ear. Gently, he slid his tongue deep into Cleo's ear, licking it lightly before lowering his head to her neck.

Cleo gasped as Lewis began kissing her neck. She closed her eyes and allowed her head to fall back as he kissed all the way down her neck to the collar of her shirt.

Without pausing, Cleo grasped Lewis's shirt and pulled it over his head. Lewis looked at Cleo for just a second before he reached his hands toward her top. Before Lewis could reach it, Cleo crossed her arms at the hem of her shirt and ripped it off over her head in one smooth motion.

"Wow..." Lewis breathed as he looked at Cleo. He'd seen her in a swim suit many times, but looking at her now, standing there in front of him in a lacy white bra, did something to him that he hadn't expected.

Cleo didn't allow Lewis much more time to admire her before she leaned back into him for another kiss. This kiss was more heated, even more passionate.

Cleo opened her mouth wider, allowing Lewis's tongue to slide inside.

Before today when they'd dated they'd always kissed each other shyly, barely a peck here and there. Now, they found themselves desperate for each other. All shyness was gone, they were completely comfortable with each other. Cleo ran her hands up and down Lewis's back, allowing her nails to scratch him just hard enough to make him shiver. Her hands slid down further. She wrapped her fingers around Lewis's belt and looked up at him questioningly for a second.

Time seemed to stand still as Lewis looked deep into Cleo's eyes. They both knew that this was it. Things would never be the same again. Lewis gently removed Cleo's hands from his belt buckle.

"Wait." He murmured.

Cleo stepped back, disappointed that things were ending.

Lewis pulled his phone out of his pocket and quickly dialed a number. Cleo watched curiously, wondering who in the world he was calling at a time like this.

"Hello Charlotte." Lewis said calmly. "We're over."

Cleo's eyes opened wide as she listened.

"Why?" Lewis turned to Cleo, smiling at her warmly. "Because I'm in love with Cleo."

With that, Lewis closed the phone and dropped it onto the sand.

Cleo's eyes shined brightly as she wrapped her arms around Lewis's neck tightly.

Lewis couldn't keep a smile off his face as he tucked a strand of hair behind Cleo's ear. "What do you think?" He asked quietly. "You and me?"

Cleo answered by kissing Lewis tenderly on the lips. She pulled away from him just enough to whisper. "Yes."

Lewis wrapped Cleo in his arms and lowered her down onto the sand. They laid in each other's arms, kissing one another easily. This felt right. Both of them felt themselves instantly relaxed, and more happy than they'd been in weeks.

Cleo's hands slid down to Lewis's belt buckle once more. "Is this alright?" She asked hesitantly, worried that she was moving to fast for Lewis.

Lewis nodded without pausing. He slid one hand up onto Cleo's chest, gently stroking her with his thumb.

Cleo couldn't wait any longer. She unclasped Lewis's belt and unbuttoned his shorts. Lewis gripped Cleo's hips as she gently pulled down his zipper. The tension was almost too much for him to stand. He quickly kicked the shorts off and practically ripped the button off Cleo's. Her shorts joined Lewis's as they fell on the sand. They kissed each other hard, running their hands over each other's bodies.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Lewis looked deep into Cleo's eyes, trying to find any hint of hesitation.

"I've been ready for a long time now." Cleo's face was honest. "I just want to be with you, Lewis."

Lewis didn't need any more convincing. He kissed Cleo eagerly as he positioned himself on top of her. Cleo felt a rush of excitement. She'd dreamed about this moment so many times. The pair gasped as they became one with each other. They moved easily, sure of what they were doing. Their movements went from smooth and slow to hungry and flustered as they breathed heavily. They clung to each other as their rhythm got faster, until they both gasped as they reached their peak.

Both of them collapsed back onto the sand. Cleo held Lewis to her tightly as she breathed in oxygen as quickly as she could. Lewis was also panting as he clung to Cleo. Sweat dripped down both of their faces as they looked at each other. It was as if they were seeing one another with new eyes.

"Disappointed?" Cleo looked at Lewis nervously as she took in a deep breath.

"Cleo..." Lewis couldn't even think of the right words to say right then. He just looked deep into her eyes. "I love you." He murmured.

The pair lay on the sand together for a long time, looking into each other's eyes. The moment felt truly perfect. Neither one of them wanted to go anywhere, but they knew that their families would be wondering where they were.

"I guess we should get dressed." Cleo stroked Lewis's back as she spoke.

Lewis groaned. "No." He said stubbornly as he nestled his face into Cleo's neck.

As if on cue, Cleo's phone rang shrilly, jerking the pair out of their dazes. Cleo shook her head to clear it as she stood. She didn't make it to the phone in time. It stopped ringing as she picked it up.

"It's Rikki." Cleo smiled. "I was supposed to call her ages ago."

Lewis stood up with a yawn, brushing sand off of his skin.

"Well look at you." Cleo said with a mischievous grin.

"Right back at you." Lewis blushed as he looked at Cleo's tanned skin.

Both of them froze in surprise as they heard a pair of footsteps walking distantly into the tunnel of the cave.

"Who is that?" Cleo hissed at Lewis.

"No idea, throw me my pants!" Lewis whispered frantically.

Lewis threw on his shorts hurriedly as the footsteps neared. Cleo threw his shirt at him before diving into the moon pool and disappearing into the ocean.

Lewis struggled to pull the shirt over his head, but got tangled up. He eventually managed to get it pulled over his head and he thrust his arms into the sleeves.

The footsteps entered the cave casually.

"Zane?" Lewis said in exasperation. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Meeting Rikki." Zane checked his watch briefly. "I'm early. She'll be here in about 10 minutes."

Zane looked up, his eyes sweeping around the cavern. "What have you been doing in here?" He asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing." Lewis said casually, though the sweat on his temples gave him away.

"Nothing?" Zane's eyes narrowed. He looked around himself carefully before looking back up at Lewis. "Was Cleo here?" He asked accusingly.

"Cleo? Nooooo." Lewis shook his head hard. "That's ridiculous. Why would you think Cleo was here?"

Zane pointed at the top and the pair of pink shorts that had been tossed onto the sand.

"What, those?" Lewis shrugged, his shoulders jumping up and down. "She must have let those here in case of... emergencies. Yeah, emergencies."

"Ah." Zane did not look convinced. "So... you two weren't in here, you know, doing anything?"

"Now Zane," Lewis spoke as if Zane was a child. "That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. I mean, whatever would give you that idea?"

Zane's eyebrows rose slightly. He pointed at Lewis. "Your shirt is on inside out." He said smoothly.

"I, uh, got dressed in a hurry earlier." Lewis stammered.

Zane smirked. "It's on backwards too."

Lewis looked down. Sure enough, his shirt was turned around and inside out. He looked up at Zane, trapped, unable to think of what to say next.

"Oh my god." Zane's eye's flew open. "You and Cleo were in here messing around, weren't you?"

"No..." Lewis had never been a very talented liar.

"You dog!" Zane punched Lewis across the shoulder. "And just think," He said proudly. "It's all thanks to me."

"Yeah Zane," Lewis muttered reluctantly. "All thanks to you."

"Feel free to thank me anytime." Zane said conceitedly. He laughed to himself. "You and Cleo... wow Lewis. I didn't know you had it in you."

Lewis stepped up next to Zane. "Zane, thank you." Lewis said, his face blank.

Zane just burst out laughing. "What would you do without me?" He said sarcastically.

With one good push, Lewis knocked Zane right into the water.

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><p>I hope no one was offended by this chapter, I just thought Lewis deserved to have a little fun :) Next (and last) chapter coming soon :) Thanks for reading!<p> 


	8. For ever

Zane was half spluttering half laughing as he pulled himself out of the water. Lewis stood with his arms crossed, waiting for his obnoxious friend to calm down.

"Nice, Lewis." Zane said as he wrung water out of his shirt. "Real mature." He chuckled.

Rikki and Cleo swam into the cave at that moment. They surfaced, chatting casually. Cleo's eyes darted up and Lewis and then quickly to the sand of the cave where her shorts lay in a crumpled heap. Her eyes widened and she shot Lewis a panicked look.

"Hey... Lewis." Rikki shot him a confused look. "I didn't know you were coming to Mako today."

"Oh," Zane burst out laughing. "Lewis is _totally_ 'coming' to-"

"Shut up, Zane." Lewis elbowed him hard in the ribs.

Rikki put her hands on the edge of the pool and bean to pull herself out of the water. Zane stopped laughing long enough to help out his girlfriend. Rikki dried herself off quickly and turned to look at Cleo.

"You coming out?" She asked as she gave Zane a peck on the cheek.

"Uh..." Cleo's eyes drifted back over to the shorts on the sand. "I think I'll just float for a while." Cleo gave Lewis a meaningful look.

"Me too." Lewis jumped quickly into the water. He knew that Cleo couldn't get out of the water. The girls always transformed back wearing whatever they were wearing when they jumped in the water. Cleo had jumped in the moon pool without any clothes on, so if she climbed out and dried off... well, Zane and Rikki would really get an eyeful.

"Ah." Lewis said, trying hard to be relaxed as he floated on his back. "This is great." Lewis sank below the surface and ended up choking on the water.

"Yeah." Zane said sarcastically. "You look totally cool, Lewis."

Rikki watched Zane and Lewis exchange looks for a few moments before she spoke up. "What in the world is going on with you two?"

Lewis looked hard at Zane, trying to get him to shut up, but it didn't work.

"There's nothing going on between Lewis and me." Zane said with a mischievous grin. "But ask him what's going on between him and Cleo."

Lewis closed his eyes and sighed. He should have known Zane would never keep anything from Rikki. Cleo sank below the surface of the water and stayed there, abandoning Lewis.

"What?" Rikki turned to Lewis. "What's going on with you and Cleo?"

Lewis blinked a couple of times. "Nothing." He said eventually.

"Oh come on, Lewis." Zane refused to shut up. He strolled to the corner of the cavern and picked up Cleo's lacy pink bra. It dangled on the edge of his pinky finger. "You _sure_ there's nothing going on between you and Cleo?"

"What?" Rikki shrieked as she looked at the bra. Her eyes quickly took in the shorts on the ground before they shot daggers at Lewis. "What the hell are you up to, Lewis? Aren't you dating Charlotte?"

"No..." Lewis looked up at the ceiling. He felt like he was being interrogated. "Not anymore..."

"Not anymore?" Rikki wasn't letting this go. She crossed her arms over her chest and stood where Lewis couldn't ignore her. "When did you break up."

"Today..." Lewis said meekly. He desperately wished Cleo would rescue him.

"Today." Rikki paced. "And you just thought you would take advantage of Cleo? For what, a rebound?"

Zane burst out laughing. "Sorry." He managed to get out. "It's just so funny."

Rikki turned her eyes to Zane, causing him to become instantly serious. "What's funny, Zane?" She stood next to him.

"Not one thing." Zane smirked as he leaned in to kiss his girlfriend. "Cleo," He called into the water. "Come on out of the water."

"Zane," Lewis said firmly. "Why don't you and Rikki go for a walk?"

"Nah." Zane grinned. "I don't think I want to miss this."

"Really?" Lewis raised his eyebrows. "Because I was just going to ask Rikki if she was going to the motocross meet this weekend with you?"

"Motocross meet?" Rikki turned on Zane in a beat. "You're supposed to be going on a camping weekend with me and my dad this weekend?"

Zane stammered to save himself. "Uh, Rikki, let's go on a nice, _romantic_, walk, ok?" He steered her towards the entrance to the cave. He shot Lewis a look as the pair reached the exit.

"I can't believe you're ditching me for motocross _again_." Lewis heard Rikki complain as the pair left the moon pool cavern.

Lewis sighed with relief. "You can come back up." He called to the water around him.

Cleo surfaced slowly. "Sorry," She said apologetically. "I got nervous, I had to bail."

"Yeah yeah yeah." Lewis couldn't help but smile as he looked at the girl he loved. "Well, I'll have you know that Zane _and_ Rikki have a pretty good idea of what happened between us."

Cleo blushed scarlet. "Do they?" She murmured. "I should really get dressed."

"Of course." Lewis quickly pulled himself out of the water and turned to assist Cleo out onto the sand of the floor of the cavern.

"Thanks." Cleo spoke as she held her hand out over herself. She quickly pulled the water droplets off herself and changed back to human form. A naked human form, Lewis couldn't help but notice.

It took every ounce of restraint for Lewis to turn away from her. He was trying to be a gentleman.

Cleo quickly scooped up her articles of clothing and slipped them on.

"Thanks." She called to Lewis, who was standing, determinedly looking at the wall. He turned to look at her.

"Listen," He started. "I really hope I didn't take advantage of you. You know, earlier."

"You didn't." Cleo said seriously as she took a step closer to Lewis. "I wanted it too."

Lewis nodded. He reached for Cleo's hands. Her fingers entwined with his as he pulled her to stand close to him. Lewis lowered he face to Cleo's, kissing her deeply.

Cleo smiled as she kissed Lewis. She loved him. She had loved him for a long time now. It felt so good to be able to let him know her feelings.

The pair quickly found themselves getting carried away as they embraced. They were breathing hard and in the middle of a long kiss when they heard someone clear their throat. Their eyes quickly shot to the cave entrance.

Rikki and Zane stood side by side, looking at Cleo and Lewis. Zane had a smirk on his face, while Rikki just looked shocked.

"So it _is_ true." She said as she stepped inside.

Cleo took a breath before speaking up. "Lewis and I are back together."

Rikki nodded a couple times. "I'm happy for you." She finally let her face spread into a smile.

"Really?" Cleo squealed.

"Of course!" Rikki ran to Cleo and pulled her into a tight hug. The girls chattered back and forth excitedly.

Lewis walked to stand beside Zane. The pair watched the girls giggling and laughing for a few seconds.

"Well they certainly look happy." Zane observed.

"Yup." Lewis answered.

"Hey," Zane offered up. "I'm glad you two are back together. It was too weird you guys not dating. i mean, everyone knew you'd get back together eventually."

"Did they?" Lewis laughed. He looked at Zane. "Thanks."

Zane nodded. "Hey Rikki," He called over the chatter of girl talk. "What you you think about us heading home?"

Rikki grinned at Cleo, shooting her a wink before she turned back to Zane. "I think that sounds fantastic." She giggled.

Zane and Rikki walked out of the cave, leaving Cleo and Lewis alone.

"So..." Cleo began awkwardly.

"Yeah." Lewis sounded just as awkward.

The pair looked at each other shyly.

"So..." Cleo spoke hesitantly. "You and me? Back together?"

"Oh yeah." Lewis's smile spread across his face, lighting it up. "Back together."

Cleo beamed as she wrapped her arms around Lewis's waist, pulling him close to her. "I've missed you so badly." She murmured.

"I've missed you more." Lewis whispered back.

The pair stood, holding each other, for a long time before breaking the embrace. The knew they had a lot to explain to many people, and neither were eager to get on with it.

"I guess we should head back home." Cleo said quietly, not making the slightest move towards leaving.

"You're right." Lewis didn't move either.

After a few seconds Cleo reached her arms to wrap around Lewiss head, pulling his lips to hers.

Lewis forgot all thoughts of Zane, Rikki, everything as he kissed Cleo. Cleo found herself equally distracted.

The pair eventually broke the embrace.

"So how much does Zane know?" Cleo asked nervously.

"Well, he saw your clothes." Lewis said apologetically.

"Ok." Cleo nodded as she processed the information. "There are worse things."

Lewis nodded in agreement. "Don't worry," He said, "He may have told Rikki, but he won't tell anyone else."

"How do you know?" Cleo looked up at Lewis curiously.

"Because," Lewis smiled. "I have a picture of Zane straddling Nate. It was late one night and Nate had passed out. Zane thought it would be funny to sit on him. I happened to get a picture." Lewis smiled. "A very incriminating picture. Zane won't say a word."

Cleo smiled as she leaned in for another kiss from Lewis. The pair didn't break off their embrace for several minutes. They allowed themselves to explore one another, glad to be finally together. they knew they were meant for each other, and they had no intention of letting one another go.

It only took one phone call from Lewis. Aside from Rikki, Zane never said a word.


End file.
